The Night After
by HuntedRose
Summary: What happens after the worst night of your life? Hellsing from the beginning. AlucardxSeras Contains elements from both the manga and anime, so it's a bit AU.
1. Default Chapter

The Night After

It was dark when she woke up. Warm and cozy, with the air full and thick like she'd pulled the covers over her head again while she slept. She always loved waking up in the middle of the night, knowing that she had hours before she needed to wake up and she could drift back to her dreams.

She sighed and shifted a little to find the most comfortable spot to do that. But the bed felt cramped and something heavy was laying across her stomach, restricting movement. Waking farther, she struggled to free her arms from the closeness that didn't feel as comforting now.

Something was wrong, a whisper deep in her head told her. Something was so very wrong.

She couldn't breathe. She wasn't breathing. Her chest hurt when she tried to. Whatever was across her wouldn't budge. It held like iron, trapping arms and body together. Her back was against something equally as solid and there wasn't room or a good angle to try kicking. Her breathless, pained yells died in the muffling close darkness.

She went mad for a time.

Awake again, or at least aware. She didn't think she'd have fallen asleep, but there seemed to be a gap of time from her panic attack to now. Something, sleep or exhaustion, had dulled the terror and now she felt almost numb.

She still wasn't breathing, but she didn't want to think about it again.

Slowly, she started trying to make sense of where she was. It wasn't her bed with the hollow where she always slept that reminded her that it needed to be flipped, always to late for anything to be done about it. The air about her face was close, but nothing was touching her upturned face. A small space? That felt right.

She'd never been bothered by that, skinning through urban mazes with the other children, outdistancing everyone but the older boys. She was small and limber and had been angry at her chest when it had grown so large that it had ended that era for her. After that, the boys didn't see her as a small, dirty tomboy who could be trusted with all of the secret hiding places. Suddenly, she was a girl who didn't have the first clue how to act like one and wasn't sure if she really wanted to.

The darkness was complete and no light was filtering in, but somehow she could see dim shapes. It was... an arm pinning her? There was a brightness to the arm, like it was clad in a white shirt. That was when she noticed that she was dressed in what looked and felt like another dress shirt, very oversized. Her legs were bare, and she didn't think she still wearing any underwear. She stretched her toes out as far as she could, but still couldn't feel the sides of the space she was in.

The owner of the arm was the immovable object behind her. Pushing her head back and up, there was a chin just above her head and her back was being held to the rest of the dress shirt which covered a very non-squishy chest. Male, then, but stronger then she thought possible. Nothing she did made any part of him she could reach move. Her fingers could only feel the soft wool of trousers and the outline of lean hips in them.

She'd never slept with anyone before, so why did she feel so... safe now? Well, safe when she wasn't fending off non-thinking bouts of terror at exactly why she was here and what had happened!

Try to remember. Her head was jammed with cotton wool when she tried to think of last night.

They were called in, her team, to deal with problems in a tiny village. She couldn't seem to find the name of it in the morass of her memories. People were being attacked... by who? And then her team was dead, everyone was dead.

But they weren't staying dead. They were shambling after her, hungry mouths gaping wide as they reached out. These were the ones who had a pet name for her, who treated her, the new girl, like a kid sister. They were a hope of a new family to replace the one that was dead, but now they were so much worse then dead.

I can't shoot you, I just can't, please don't make me...

She ran.

Then there was the man in flowing red, with eyes glowing like stars who talked to her. But he wasn't human either, just another scary thing. She shot at him, but his mad laughter followed her when she ran again.

A church, that should be safe. She could rest there for a moment or so and decide what she could do now that she was on her own.

But it wasn't safe, and she was going to die now, the priest was going to bite her, make her like the rest of her troop. There they were, watching from the pews, staring at her hungrily.

Then he was there again, in his billowing red, and his dark, rolling voice, cursing the monster that held her, telling him he was garbage. The priest laughed at him, and ordered her troops to fire on him.

All the bloody pieces, falling to the ground, all red like his clothes. She felt a pang of something like loss, but he was only another monster, wasn't he?

The darkness pooled and formed and the dark laughter was back, the madness in it deeper now.

She was grabbed closer, hearing the dull snap of at least one of her ribs giving way, but she was too numb to feel the pain. She was a hostage, something she hated the very idea of. Why her? She didn't want to be the damsel in distress. As long as she could remember, she always wanted to be the hero, like her dad. At least he was long dead, and would never know she'd failed.

But the rich voice was talking to her now, asking if she wanted to live, if she wanted to come with him. Her mouth was so dry, she couldn't speak, could hardly understand what he wanted her to say. He demanded that she answer him. He'll kill the one that was using her, that had killed her new family. Oh, say yes, what else is there?

Then she closed her eyes, and felt the punch in her chest. She was already numb, and there wasn't pain in this yet, it was just too big. The stone floor almost felt soft as she slammed into it. The skittering thought ran through her brain that at least she didn't have to worry about the broken rib. She almost laughed, almost as insane as the one who shot her.

She couldn't draw a breath and it bubbled in her throat, an odd sucking feeling when she tried. She was being lifted up, and arms were around her, holding her. At least she wasn't alone, even if she couldn't have someone who cared. Her eyes opened, and she looked into his eyes, as bloody as what was gushing out of the ruin of her chest.

He grinned like a maniac. "This is the part where you're supposed to close your eyes." And miss the last moments of her life? She stared at him until his grin widened and he lowered his head to her neck. Something that wasn't pain, because she still couldn't feel any, stabbed at her throat. There was a sensation of falling into velvety darkness and his voice followed her, every word a caress to her battered, weary soul. The meaning of them was gone, but they'd wrapped her in comfort even more then the blanket he found and tucked around her before picking her up like a toy.

They were leaving that place, that was all she cared about. All the wreckage of her life, all her friends, all of it gone and she was glad she didn't have to deal with any of it yet. There were bright lights, and jumbled voices and a stern woman with long pale blonde hair who wanted her gone, who was angry about something. But he kept her tucked in his arms safely, and when he asked her to agree with him, she nodded her head like a puppet. She'd have done anything he asked her at that point, as long as it didn't mean he'd put her down.

After that... after that, she did drift off to him talking to her, letting the honeyed sounds wrap around the blank space where her thoughts should have been. Nothing after that, until she'd woken up here.

The arm shifted around her a little bit, and the body behind her moved.

"Ah, you're awake already, Police Girl. Good." The dark velvet of his voice filled the small area, echoing deep inside her.


	2. 2

Chapter Two

Brain whirling like a top, she blurted out in a soundless croak, "My name is Seras Victoria."

A chuckle tickled her ear. "I know." His face was so close hers that stray tendrils of his hair drifted across her cheek as he spoke. They seemed to move with more then natural animation, caressing her skin. "You'll need to remember to draw in air to talk, since you don't need it to exist. That's your first lesson."

Seras tried a small breath. It seemed so unnatural to have to think about doing something so basic. After a try or two, she managed, "It hurts."

"Your lungs aren't completely healed yet. It'll get easier with practice." His mouth dipped closer to her throat where he'd bitten her the night before. "This has healed nicely, however. I'm glad to see I haven't lost my touch." The feel of his tongue gently stoking her neck made shivers run down her spine and she stiffened slightly.

"I won't harm you," he whispered in her ear. "So nervous..."

"W-what do you want with me?"

"Oh, now that would be telling, wouldn't it?" His other arm had slid around her until she was cradled in them again, his long fingered hands stroking soothing circles at her waist. They were anything but soothing. She could feel the soft fabric of the shirt rub against her bare skin and felt the lack of clothing keenly, every inch of her skin throbbing like a miniature heartbeat. Did she still have a heartbeat? Everything was surging inside her at his touch so much that she couldn't tell, but it had seemed so quiet and empty there before. Her breasts had tightened and her nipples were small pebbles when they brushed the shirt.

It came to her that this was more then just her body's reaction to such erotic sensations. He seemed to be directing what was happening in her, speeding things up and moving them around. It should have sent her into another panic attack, but Seras couldn't even manage to protest what he was doing. Every bit of her was humming with the attention he was giving her. When he ran his tongue down her neck again, she jumped.

"Better now, Police Girl?" His chuckle was knowing, and she wondered if she was blushing, if she could still blush, at his words. But her chest didn't hurt now, and she drew in a deep breath, to try it out. Only a tiny squidge was left, and it was fading fast.

"Y-yes, thank you." His hands were still stroking, but the sensations were fading and she was slipping into an afterglow of pleasure. This was just a dream and she'd wake up with the alarm clock shrilling at her that she was going to be late getting to Division 11 again. The memory would be fading by the time she brushed her teeth, however hard she tried to remember.

Division 11...that made it real. "They're all dead aren't they? My team?" A cold jolt ran through her.

The hands stilled and he pulled her a little closer. "Yes."

"And I'm dead too?" Her eyes prickled with tears.

He made a soft sound of exasperation. "Yes. But you're dead in the same way that I am, not the way they were."

Division 11 handled many strange calls, many things that normal people didn't have a clue about. "What are you?"

He was laughing again, hugging her tight. "I'm a No Life King, a true vampire, and someday you may be fully one as well."

"What am I now?" That seemed so important.

"My Police Girl, what else?" She could almost see his Cheshire cat grin.

"I'm your toy, is that it?"

"Maybe. Maybe more. We'll see." He nuzzled her hair and kept his grip tight on her as if he knew she was close to bolting.

"And am I a monster?" Fear bubbled again.

"Of course. Just a little one yet, but I will teach you to be an excellent one. Lesser monsters will cower at your feet." She could sense him looking her up and down. "It may take some work." There was more laughter in his words.

And the burning question. "What's your name?"

"Alucard. You may call me Master."

Anger pricked in her at this. "I most certainly will not! I'm not a slave!"

She felt a hurricane blow into her mind at that, bundling her consciousness off to a corner of her skull. "You will do as you are told!" His voice was deep inside her head blotting out almost everything else. "You understand nothing about what you have become, and until you do, you will follow orders! Even after that, you will owe me respect as your sire. I will not have you destroyed because you chose a foolish path." He rested his cheek on her temple. "Don't fight me on this, little one. We can fight all you want about everything else. I'll even enjoy it. But I am your Master." This time his voice was only heard with her ears. "Do you understand?"

"Yes... Master." It came out of her lips without her willing it, and somehow it felt so right that a tingle of pleasure went through her again. That in itself was a frightening thing.

There was approval coming from him, filling her up with a happy glow. Seras was starting to feel his emotions running through her body. When he was pleased or amused, she was filled with a dark joy, but his anger blasted her. Slowly she was learning how connected they were, she and this man she had only met last night. No, not a man... or not just a man. Also a monster. Her monster.

There had only been fumbled groping on the few dates Seras had been on that she could take or leave. Now she was raw sensation and didn't know if she could stand to have him let go of her.

"Mmmmm... this is how it is when you are new created. Properly created, that is. It gives time for a true bond to grow. Keeps us from killing our young out of hand, I suppose."

"You feel it too," she whispered.

"Oh, yes. Quite... nice..." He was nuzzling her hair again and his hands were tracing paths on her stomach and sides. He hadn't yet strayed to the parts of her that were aching for attention, hadn't even gotten to bare skin yet, but she already was lost in what he was doing.

His hair was most definitely moving on its own now. It was longer, twining around her legs and arms, now that they were free of his enfolding arms. Black silk, formless and restless, it moved over her with a surety, stroking everywhere his hands weren't. A gasp was wrung from her, not because she needed air, but from what was coursing through her. Her blood felt on fire but it didn't hurt. All of her was burning up.


	3. 3

A/N: I'd like to thank my reviewers! This chapter is out so soon due to your encouragement. Sorry it's such an evil one, but Alucard promises it'll be worth it...

Chapter Three

The locks of hair moved across her torso, unfastening the shirt and sliding it open, the fabric tugging gently at the rigid peaks of her breasts as as it passed them. Her eyes fell shut and her head leaned back against his shoulder, mouth open in a moan.

A loud banging come from above Seras. Someone... knocking? Surprise warred with the state her body was in leaving her in a muddled heap, staring blankly upward with her mouth still open.

"Alucard! Are you in there?" There was a very proper, upper-crust accent to the yelled words. It was like being interrupted by the BBC!

The vampire in question hadn't stopped what he was doing to Seras with his hands and hair, but he did pull his face back from the nape of her neck to loudly threaten, ."You know how little I like to be disturbed Walter. Do you remember Prague? Do you remember how many people died? I shall be along presently." His lips wandered back to her neck. There really must be something that she was supposed to be doing right now. She couldn't throw on clothes because her wardrobe currently consisted of a shirt in the firm grasp of hair with a mind of it own. A tentative tug showed that her garment wouldn't be released without a crowbar or a barber's shears. What if whoever was interrupting them looked in instead of just knocking? It had sounded only a meter or so above them, so they must be in some sort of... box? There was certainly nothing to hide behind except her new Master, but she doubted he'd help with that, since he was doing everything he could to give anyone who peeped in a complete show.

"I'm much afraid Sir Integra was most insistent that you attend her now. She said she's been summoning you since sundown and has had no answer."

"I occasionally have other things to do then keep her entertained, " his words were half muffled in her hair and it tickled. Why did he keep touching her? It was all she could do not to moan again.

There was a brief snort, an unusually plebeian sound from such a cultured voice. "Yes, I'm sure you do, but there are some facts of unlife I am NOT going to be the one to explain to her. It's your turn now. I had to do the 'facts of life' when she was fourteen. She said for you to 'put away your toys and earn your keep."

Alucard stilled and a deep sigh came from his body and mind. "You're right, she does need some things explained to her." Hands and hair withdrew, and he murmured in her mind, "I'll kill whatever is bothering the child, tell her some more things she doesn't know about true vampires and return. You can trust Walter. And don't go far!" The last was an order, and it locked in, leaving it like constant background noise in her head.

Instead of moving her to the side and getting out of the box, his body sank rapidly under her until she made solid contact with a heavily padded mattress-like surface. "Oomph!" It took her a stunned moment to recover.

"Miss Victoria? Do you require assistance?" Oh, great! Now he was talking to her, in all her mostly naked glory.

She managed to find the button bands on both sides of the shirt and was trying to quickly fasten it. "Ummm. No, I'm fine." Looking down at the dim whiteness of the the cloth, embarrassment warred with practicality. And her new Master had told her to trust this man. "Well, no, I could really use some clothes... and is there a way out of here?"

She thought she heard a bit of a chuckle, but there was no sign of it in the tone. "Yes, of course. Shall I help you out of it now, or will you need the clothes first?"

Oh. He thought she might be undressed in here! Well, she sort of had been a few minutes ago. She assessed the garment, and realized that it covered her almost to her knees. Tugging it into place as far as it would go, she told him, "No, right now, please."

There was a soft creak, and bright light flooded in, leaving her half blind and blinking. "There we go. Now, if you'll just take my hand, we'll get you out of there."

She sat up and grasped the hand she could vaguely see. It was very warm and engulfed hers completely. With a firm grip, he helped her get to the edge to swing her legs over and sit on the rim. After she tried for a few minutes to figure out how to jump down without the shirt sliding up, he put his arm around her middle, and with a murmur of, "If you don't mind..." swung her down to the stone floor. It was amazing how strong he was for his apparent age, now that she could see him more clearly. He was tall, nearly as tall as her master, with long, steel gray hair caught in a low ponytail in back, immaculate trousers and vest with a white shirt with sleeve garters. He was peering at her through a monocle, a slightly amused but sympathetic look on his face. "At least he found you something to wear... I wasn't sure if he even knew where his closet was," he said with a slight bit of sarcasm.

The stone should have been cold to her feet, but she only noticed that it was polished smooth, as if many feet had been over it again and again. "But it's not very... is there something else I could wear? What happened to my uniform?"

One of his eyebrows quirked up and he looked slightly uncomfortable. "Alucard left it outside his door this morning, but I'm afraid it wasn't salvageable."

No wonder he thought she might be naked.

"Does he... does he do this sort of thing often?" Somehow she couldn't stand the thought of being one of a horde.

"You're the first he's ever brought back in all the time I've known him. He's not usually interested in mere humans, even enough to make them into something else." His smile was gentle, but filled with other things unsaid that seemed to amuse and sadden him at the same time.

"You seem to know him well," Seras asked curiously.

Now he did actually chuckle. "I've known him most of my life."

"He said your name was... Walter?"

"Yes. I'm the butler for Sir Integral Hellsing. You can ask me for whatever you're in need of or any questions, unless it's something you'll need to talk to Alucard for. I did take the liberty of obtaining some clothes in the same size as your old uniform until your new ones have been made."

"New uniforms?" By now Seras was completely bemused by it all. She felt brain dead, what with repeating things back to Walter.

"Alucard has insisted that you're joining Hellsing as a new operative. You really can't go back to your old life and you've been listed as dead along with the rest of your team."

Seras knew very little of Hellsing, just that it took the calls that Division 11 was pulled out of as being too much for them to handle. And she was supposed to be joining them? Her last team had never even been convinced to stop calling her Kitten!

Walter read the conflicting emotions that ran across her face with unnerving accuracy. "I think you will do fine. You will be much more powerful now then as a human." Maybe she could just run away? Walter saw that fleeting thought too. "Sir Integral won't allow a vampire that isn't under her command to exist."

"And my Master wouldn't..."

"No, he wouldn't. I am sorry, Seras. I know you likely had no true idea of what you were in for when you agreed."

"If I had, would have been harder to choose this?"

His eyes seemed to look at something far back in time. "Oh, yes. Much." He smiled at her, truly this time. "But it isn't all bad and will sort itself out. I'll help you as much as I may." His eyebrow went up again. "And I wouldn't have been able to meet you if you hadn't chosen this, would I? Now shall we get clothes sorted out?"

She was aware, even in her confusion, that Walter was being extra friendly and babying her along, but he seemed genuinely nice and she felt in dire need of it right now. "Please." She held up an arm and the shirt cuff fell well past her hand, drooping from her fingertips. Sharing a laugh with him, Seras realized she liked him quite a lot after only knowing him for under an hour.

The autocratic vampire, on the other hand, she wasn't entirely sure what she felt about. The very thought of him, midnight hair, long-fingered hands and voice of sweet, smokey liquor caressing inside and out, made her flush from top to toe and start tingling again. Blushing seemed to still be possible, however much it was unwanted right now. Her heart might well be beating, but so slowly and faintly that it was hard to pin it down, like catching a shadow out of the corner of your eye. Her new Master had taken charge of her bloodflow earlier, among other things, but she couldn't seem to even keep her pale skin from coloring from visions of him.

If Walter noticed, he was too polite to mention it. British reticence at its best, she thought with relief.

Seras turned around to look at the rest of the room after he went out. He came running back at her loud wail.

"Miss Victoria, what..."


End file.
